Tour of Missouri teams finalized

Hard work paid off for Vande Velde in Missouri (Image credit: John Pierce)

Tour of Missouri organisers announced the Canadian team Planet Energy as the 15th and final squad for the September race this week.

The team will join ProTour teams Astana, Columbia-HTC, Garmin-Slipstream, Liquigas, Quick Step and Saxo Bank and Professional Continental teams Cervelo TestTeam and BMC. Domestic teams include Jelly Belly, OUCH presented by Maxxis, BissellPro Cycling Team, Colavita / Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light, Kelly Benefit Strategies and Team Type 1. BMC Racing, which is a Swiss and American based team, rounds out the field.

"Just as we have a commitment to top American teams, we have always tried to include a top North American-based continental team in this race to support the goals of the UCI," said Chris Aronhalt, managing partner of Medalist Sports, the tour's organizer. "Planet Energy is one of the top teams outside the U.S. in this hemisphere, and we are glad to reach an agreement to include them."

The 2009 Tour of Missouri begins September 7 in St. Louis and finishes a week later in Kansas City. The seven-stage race was won last year by Garmin-Slipstream's Christian Vande Velde.